Stalk lifter



Aug. 9, 1938. A. w. SWENSON 2,126,153

STALK LIFTER Filed Sept. 28, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR A'EToRNE-Ys.

Aug. 9, 1938. A. w. sWENsbN STALK LIFTER Filed Sept. 28, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @m in 5 3 E S 'E'AE ATE STALK LIFTER.

Axel W. Swenson, Moline, llll., assignor to Deere it Company, Moline,111., a corporation of llllinois Application September 28, 1936, SerialNo. 162,939

8 Claims. (Cl. 280-460) This invention relates to a stalk lifter shieldof fender portion H. The central portion of adapted to be applied to atractor to prevent member 23 is flattened to provide a seating sur--damage to blown-down'corn stalks in the path face for a flat rearwardlyextending bracket 1' 2, of the rear drive wheel of the tractor. boltedto the member 23.

It is an object of this invention to provide a The fender portion ll ismounted on the tract stalk lifter shield adapted to substantiallyovertor by attaching means cooperating with cross lie the leading treadportion of the driving member 22 at the front end of the fenderporwheel, including tractor attaching means cotion I l, and separateattaching means cooperoperating with the shield, by which the latterating with the bracket 24 at the rear end of 10 may be quickly attachedto or detached from fenderportion H. The front attaching means to thetractor. comprises a bar 25, rigidly secured by bolt 2'! Another objectis the provision of a stalk lifter to the frame ll of the tractor, andprojecting shield with adjustable tractor-attaching means laterally topresent a flat surface on which the to accommodate lateral adjustment ofthe ascross-member 22 is adapted to be seated. Memsociated rear wheel.ber 22 and bar 26 are provided with a plurality 15 Another object is theprovision of a stalk lifter of perforations, in selected ones of whichbolts shield which may be disposed on either side of a 22a and 2217 aredisposed. Bar 26 is braced by tractor so as to be adaptable for useirrespec means of an upwardly and inwardly extending tive of whether theharvester to be drawn by brace 26a fixed to the frame of the tractor,and the tractor is designed to operate on rows on the a rearwardly andinwardly extending brace right hand side of the tractor or on rows onthe connected at its rear end to the drawbar it left hand side. of thetractor.

Other objects and advantages of this inven- The rear attaching meanscomprises a vertical tion will be apparent to those skilled in the art,channel member 29, fixed at its lower end by 25 after a consideration ofthe following detailed bolts to a bracket 3i mounted on the rear 25description, taken in conjunction with the acaxle housing l2. At itsupper end member 29 companying drawings, wherein is shown one emis bentlaterally to provide a transverse support bodiment of this invention asapplying to a 32, spaced upwardly from the upper limits of the tractor.rear wheel M, on which the bracket M is seated.

30 Figure l is a side elevation view of a tractor At its rear endbracket Ed is provided with a lip 30 equipped with a stalk lifter shieldconstructed 33, formed by bending its rear edge downwardly, and attachedin accordance with this invention; and with shoulders E l formed bybending the Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of sides of thebracket downwardly, which lip and the structure shown in Figure l;shoulders define a transverse recess in which Figure 3 is a fragmentarysection taken subsupport 32 is engageable. Support 32 is positioned 35stantially on line 3-3 of Figure 2; and, with its side flanges extendingupwardly. Dis- Figure 4 is a fragmentary section taken on posed in thechannel between the side flanges line l-flof Figure 2. is an extensionmember 35 and a filler plate 535,

As shown in the drawings, the tractor upon both of which are providedwith a plurality of which the present stalk lifter is mounted isinperforations positioned to register with selected 40 dicated generallyby reference numeral l0, and ones of a plurality of perforations in thebracket comprises a longitudinal frame I! and a rear 24 and the support32 to receive bolts tla and axle housing l2, in which drive axles 93 arejour- 3'"). Bolt 311) also serves to fasten an inwardly naled, and whichat their outer ends adjustably extending brace 29a for support 32. Thelower carry rear traction wheels l4. Drawbar I5 is end of brace 29a isfixed to bracket 3!. 45 carried on the rear end of frame l2. Member 35is provided with a downwardly ex- The lifter, designated as l6,comprises a tended portion 35a, from which a bar 38 is sustransverselycurved downwardly and forwardly pended by bolt 39. An angle iron memberit, inclined fender portion ll, a flat shield portion connected at itsfront end by bolt M to the outer 5:) l8, and a floating shoe structureit), all ofsheet end of cross-member 22, is attached by a bolt 5 metalconstruction. The front end of fender 42 to the lower end of bar 38.Bolt 22a at the portion H is fixed to a framework comprising an innerend of member 22 also serves to fasten the arched member Zll, welded at25 to the outer ends forward end of a diagonal brace 49, secured at of aperforated cross-member 22. A similar its rear end by bolt 59 to therearwardly exto arched member 23 is fastened to the rear end tendingportion of angle member ll). The lower edge and the rear edge of sideshield l8 are respectively removably fixed to member 49 by bolts 40a andto bar 38 by bolts 38a. The upper edge of shield I8 is removably fixedto the outer edge Ila of fender portion ll by bolts 40b.

The floating shoe i9 is pivotally supported on the front end of thetender portion H by pivot pins 6|, which allows the shoe to swingvertical- 1y with respect to the shield to accommodate variations inground contour. An adjustable connection, whereby the front end of theshoe can be raised or lowered to adjust the operating position of aground-engaging point 62 carried at the leading end of the shoe, isprovided. This adjustable connection comprises a chain 63, fixed at 64to the central portion of the shoe I9. At its upper end chain 63selectively engages a clip '65 mounted on support 32. Pivotal movementof the shoe is limited by a lost motion bolt and slot connection 66.Thus the chain 63 constitutes means for controlling downward pivotalmovement of the shoe within limits of the lost motion connection whileit permits limited upward pivotal movement of the shoe. 7

Changes in position of wheel [4 on axle [3 may be accommodated by merelyremoving bolts 22a. and 22b, and 31a. and 31b, then moving the stalklifter laterally into the proper position, and then reinserting thebolts in other aligned holes in the supporting members.

In the drawings the stalk lifter is shown mounted on the left side ofthe tractor. To mount it on the right side, support 26 with braces 26aand 25b and member 29 are connected to the tractor on the right sidethereof, and shield I8 is bolted along the edge llb of fender portion!1, which is now the outer edge, edge Hb being provided with holesspaced similarly to the holes in the upper edge of shield I8, the sameas edge Ila. Member 40 and bar 38 are also bolted on the opposite sideof shield Hi from that shown in the drawings to dispose them on theinside of the shield. Member 4|] is bored with similarly spaced holesin-both flanges as shown so that either flange maybe used as theattaching flange, and so may be disposed with a horizontal flangeextending inwardly from the lower edge of a vertical flange in eitherposition of the stalk lifter.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. The combination with a tractor having a laterally adjustable reardriving wheel, of a grain stalk lifter mounted on the tractor andextending upwardly and rearwardly from its front end, its rear endoverlying said wheel, a cross-member near the front end of the lifter, abracket fixed to the rear end of the lifter, and means for mounting saidmember and bracket on the tractor comprising two longitudinally spacedsupports extending laterally from the tractor and on which said memberand bracket are respectively seated, said bracket, cross-member andsupports each having aplurality of transversely spaced perforationsthrough which bolts may be passed to secure the lifter in any one of aplurality of different lateral positions to accommodate lateraladjustments of said wheel. a

2. The combination with a tractor having a laterally adjustable reardriving wheel, of a grain stalk lifter mounted on the tractor andextending upwardly and rearwardly from its front end, its rear endoverlying said wheel, said lifter comprising a fender, a cross-membernear the front end of the fender, a bracket fixed to the rear end of thefender,-and means for mounting said member and bracket on the tractorcomprising two longitudinally spaced supports extending laterally fromthe tractor and on which said member and bracket are respectivelyseated, said bracket, cross-member and supports each having a pluralityof transversely spaced perforations through which bolts may be passed tosecure the fender in any one of a plurality of different lateralpositions to accommodate lateral adjustments of said wheel, aground-engaging shoe pivotally connected to the front end of the fender,and adjusting mechanism connecting the shoe with the rear support andoperable to vary the position of the shoe relative to the ground.

3. The combination with a tractor having a laterally adjustable reardriving wheel, and including a rear axle housing, of a grain stalklifter mounted on the tractor and extending upwardly and rearwardly fromits front end to dispose its rear end over said wheel, comprising afender portion, a side portion and a floating shoe structure adjustablycarried by the front end of the fender portion, a frame on which thefront end of the fender portion is mounted, a bracket fixed to the rearend of said fender portion, means for attaching said fender portion tothe tractor comprising a support extending laterally from the tractorforwardly of said;

wheel, means for fixing said frame tosaid support at any one of severallaterally spaced positions, a vertical member fixed at its lower end tothe rear axle housing and terminating at its upper end in a transversesupport extending over 5 section, means for mounting said fender overthe supporting wheel on either side of the tractor with the two edgesthereof depending on opposite sides of the wheel, a detachable sideshield for the fender adapted to extend downwardly past the outer end ofsaid driving axle,

each edge of said fender being adapted to have said shield fixedthereto, and means for removably attaching said shield to either side ofsaid fender, whereby said shield may be fixed to said fender adjacentthe outside of the wheel in either position in which the fender ismounted.

5. A grain stalk lifter for a vehicle Wheel, comprising a fender adaptedto embrace the forward portion of said wheel, a forwardly extending shoepivotaily supported on said fender for vertical swinging movement, abracket attached to said fender, a support adapted for attachment tosaid vehicle for receiving said bracket in different positions ofadjustment lat erally with respect to said vehicle, and means forrigidly securing said bracket to said support in any of said positionsof lateral adjustment. i

6. A grain stalk lifter for a vehicle wheel, comprising a fender adaptedto embrace the forward portion of said wheel, a forwardly extending shoepivotally supported on said fender for vertical swinging movement, meansfor adjustably limiting the extent of downward movement of said shoerelative to the ground, a bracket attached to said fender, a supportadapted for attachment tosaid vehicle for receiving said bracket indifferent positions of adjustment laterally with respect to saidvehicle, and means for rigidly securing said bracket to said support inany of said positions of lateral adjustment.

7. A grain stalk lifter for a vehicle wheel, comprising a fender adaptedto embrace a portion of the periphery of said wheel and to extendforwardly therefrom, reversible supporting means for mounting saidfender on either side of said vehicle, a removable side shield adapted,to extend from said fender parallel to the vehicle wheel, adjacent theouter side of the'latter and through the axis of rotation thereof, andmeans for fastening said shield on either side of said fender,selectively, depending on which side of the latter is positionedoutwardly of the wheel.

8. A grain stalk lifter for a vehicle wheel, comprising a fender adaptedto embrace a portion of the periphery of said wheel and to extendforwardly therefrom, a forwardly extending shoe pivotally supported onsaid fender for vertical swinging movement, reversible supporting meansfor mounting said fender on either side of said vehicle, a removableside shield 10 adapted to extend from said fender parallel to thevehicle wheel adjacent the outer side of the latter, and means forfastening said shield on either side of said fender, selectively,depending on which side of the latter is positioned out- 15 wardly ofthe wheel.

AXEL W. SWENSON.

